Dean Smith was in high spirits during Thursday’s press call at Jersey Road. The Bees – who have now suffered only one defeat in their last six league matches - dominated for long spells during the midweek draw with Derby County, a game which Dean said typified the season so far.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get the win for the home fans,” Dean told iFollow Brentford. “I was pleased with how we played and how we dealt with the situation. They took the lead from a sloppy piece of defending from ourselves and to get back in the game was very difficult. We had ten ex-Premier League players stood behind the ball for long periods and we didn’t work as many openings as we would have liked. Our movement could’ve been better in certain areas but I’m very pleased we got the goal that we fully deserved – we would’ve been devastated to have lost that game after the way in which dominated.

“It summed up the season in one game. It was so one-sided although we were a little worried about their threat from set-pieces. We felt that we needed to be at our best to defend corners but they didn’t get in our half to win any! We feel as though we should have done a bit better with a couple of our own corners but, on the whole, we have to be pleased with the way in which we’re dominating games”.

Brentford ran out convincing winners at Bolton Wanderers during their last venture away from TW8. Despite the quality of the goals at The Macron Stadium, the Head Coach stressed the importance of capitalising on simpler chances.

“We scored three terrific goals at Bolton Wanderers but we still had other chances to score in that game. Romaine’s (Sawyers) had a chance in the first half where he knows he should’ve hit the target and Clarky’s (Josh Clarke) had a couple – they’re the chances that we want to be taking, rather than the 35-yarders into the top corner”.

Andreas Bjelland was a casualty on Tuesday night, playing the first 45 minutes before being replaced by Chris Mepham after the interval. Dean was pleased to deliver positive news on the injury front.

“Andreas had a tight hamstring but it’s not as bad as we feared. Luckily, he’s an experienced lad and knew that he had to get off the pitch. It’s not out of question him being in the squad on Saturday. Chris (Mepham) did well. He had a tough first game against Norwich City when the team didn’t perform well. I thought he came on and put in a really mature performance”.

While acknowledging the strength of the Boro squad, Dean said that Brentford have solid foundations to build upon ahead of the trip to The Riverside Stadium.

“Middlesbrough got a very strong squad and they’re one of the favourites to gain promotion to the Premier League. I think Garry (Monk) did a fantastic job at Swansea City and at Leeds United last season as well. He’s a former team-mate of mine and we’re looking forward to going up there for a tough game. One defeat in six gives puts us in a good position to hopefully go up there and get a result”.